Soap-dispensing machine.



, C. H. J. DILG & J. 0. FQWLER.

SOAP DISPENSING MAHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Muze, 1909.'

1,037,821. Patented Sept. 3,1912.

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ATTORNEY MUIIIA WIA, C0., Umm D. Ch

UNTTED sTaTns PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J'. DILG AND JONATHAN O. FOWLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS T0 GRANULATOR SOAP COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SOAP-DISPENSING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

`Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

OrignaI application filed May 15, 1905, Serial No. 260,435. Divided` and this application led May 28,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES. H. J. DILG v and JONATHAN O. FOWLER, citizens of the` United States of America, and residents of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Soap-Dispensing Machine, of which the following is a specification, the same being a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, the present application being a division of our application for a soap-supplier tiled by us on May 15, 1905, Serial No. 260,435.

This invention relates to apparatuses by means of which solid blocks of material may be disintegrated and furnished for use in` 1n the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of an apparatus kinvolving this invention, secured to the support J2 by arm J and base J, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same, Fig. 2a is a view of a soap supplier located in an inclined position, Figs. 3 and 4 are views in detail of. serrated cutting or granulating means, Fig. 5 is a detail view in elevation, partly in section, of interlocking cakes of soap, Fig. 6 is a view in section, and Fig. 7 is a side elevation, with the casing partly broken away, of other soap suppliers in which our invention is employed, Fig. 8 is a plan view of a cake of soap, Figs. 9 and 10 are views in detail of other cutting devices used in the said machines, and Fig. 11 is an end view of the soap supplier.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in all the views.

Referring particularly to Figs. land 2 of the drawings, A denotes the shell or casing of the soap supplier, the same, preferably, ordinarily mounted the vertical tubular extension a communicating with the said shell.

A bearing is ordinarily formed in the shell consist'ng of a cylinder uponwhich is' Serial N0. 498,808.

of the soap supplier, consisting, in the present embodiment, of a sleeve B. Vithin the said sleeve works a spindle C, which may be provided with any suitable means for operating the same, as the manually actuated crank arm C which is held attached to the spindle C by the nut d encircling a screw d. The inner end of the spindle C preferably carries a bevel gear D which meshes with another bevel gear D mounted in a movable relation upon the plate or partition A of the cylindrical casing A. The said bevel gear D is ordinarily keyed to a shank or spindle E the axis of which corresponds, or is identical with, that of the receptacle or casing A, and which works in a bearing in the plate -or partitionA and extends up into the upper portion of the tube a, with which spindle is engaged a weight E in order that the rotation of the spindle E may c'ausethe said 1weight or follower E to revolve. The upper portion of the gravity shank or spindle E works in, and is embraced in, the sleeve A3 contained in the tube a, and the upper end of the said hollow sleeve or spindle preferably projects up from the top of the casing in order to serve as a means of actuating the said shank or spindle E by means of the handle or crank arln C. which may be held attached to the spindle by the nut b encircling a screw b, if desired. The sleeve or spindle A3 is provided with a longitudinal slot or keyway A4r in which works a key or pin E4 projecting from the upper part of the shank or spindle E. The weight E is ordinarily provided with any suitable means of interlocking with the soap, through one or more engaging means, as for example, the recess 6, which recess is constructed and arranged to preferably engage the soap and to register and interlock with a head f in the top of the cake of soap F, as in Fig. 6. Each cake of soap is not only also ordinarily provided with means to engage with the weight, through one or more interlocking devices, as for eX- ample, the recessed portion f on one, say the lower face thereof, as in Fig. 6, but is preferably furnished with other interlocking means, as projecting portions of practically the same size and contour as the recesses, and ordinarily also located in the upper face of the same, and constructed and arranged to interlock with the recessed portion f of an adjacent cake of soap. One end, preferably the lower portion, of the casing A is provided with a cutting device consisting of a series of scraping, shaving, or granulating devices, serrated blades G, G, G2, the serrations of said blades being preferably arranged in staggered order, the teeth of one of t-he blades, as G, being wider than those of the other cutting blades or knives, the said teeth as for example, the` being ordinarily respectively inclined at an, angle from the horizontal plane of the cuti ter, as shown in Figs. 2, 4, 6, 9 and l0. The

lower part of the casing head H, which is; ordinarily attached to the bottom of the casing A, is preferably reduced in diameter so as to converge and form a contracted opening or mout-h A2, which ordinarily detachable casing head is locked, as at- 7e,

preferably inter with the upper shell or casing A, and may be fastened to the casing or lf cylinder, as by means of a padlock K. The soap supplier may be sustained by any suitable means, as for example, by means of i a supporting arm or standard J secured by its base J to a support J 2. The depending l portion of the projection e of the weightjf E will hold the body of the weight up from 2 the teeth of the cutting device, and thus prevent the same from being cut or marred, f

or the teeth being chilled, as might occur if the knives or cutting blades were to come in i actual frictional contact with the weight .in 1 cases where the soap is practically entirely cut or worn away.

In the apparatus shown in Fig. 6, the cas- Y ing A10 is provided with a partition A11 through which and the top of the shell or casing works the spindle E10. The said spindle actuates the bevel gear D11 fixed thereto, which meshes with another bevel gear D10, the shaft C of which works in a sleeve B and carries a crank arm C. The crank arm may, however, be attached directly to the top of the spindle E10 if preferred, as is indicated by the dotted lines. The lower and detachable part of the casinfr, consisting of the head H10, supports the cutters G10, G11, G12, which are interlocked with the lower end @10 of the spindle E10. The hub A10 of the said head H10 prevents the weight from coming atV any time into frictional contact with the blades, as the depending projections of the weight will rest thereon when the soap is entirely disintegrated. The interior of the casing or shell A10 is provided with. means for preventing` the rotation of the weight and the soap, consisting, in the present instance, of a vertical part or spline @10 projecting into the chamber and registering and engaging with the groove or recess F10 of the soap F, and a similar groove formed in the weight E. A recess e (singleor duplex) extending up into the weight E engages the projection tion desired.

(or projections) f of the soap F, as before described, whereby the projections and recesses of the weight and those of the upper face of the soap are held rigidly together. The soap cakes may also have a central opening or bore f4 in the same to allow the insertion therein of the spindle or shank of the prefeably rotary cutter contained in the casing. The top of the shell or casing is preferably furnished with an inbent rim or curb a2, thus forming a circular groove in which the end of the crank arm C works when the handle is located at the top of the apparatus.

In the soap supplier illustrated in Fig. 7, the upper head H20 of the casino' is detachable, and it (or, if so desired, tie parts H or H10 of Figs. l and 6) may be secured to the casing of the apparatus by means of a catch or keeper L20 which is constructed and arranged to be engaged with a pivoted spring latch 7111 attached to the casing, and which may be released by moving the lower arm of the latch 7t21 upwardly by means of a key inserted in the key hole L22.

The operation is as follows The cylinder A is charged with la suitable number of preferably interlocking cakes of soap, the upper one of which is interlocked with a follower, consisting of a plate or weight E which may be caused to descend by its own weight or by equivalent impelling` devices, as a spring, and which weight is raised., when the apparatus is charged, to the posi- The casing head is now fastened to the cylinder, upon which t-he apparatus is ready for use, and by turning the crank arm C', the soap and cutting device become engaged with an abrading or scraping acti-on in practically a plane surface, and the lowest cake of soap becomes gradually worn away by reason of its Contact with t-he cutting blades, the said disintegrated particles of soap falling through the contracted discharge nozzle of the casing head. As described and shown, the soap may be rotated against the stationary cutting blades, or. the soap may be held stationary, and the cutting blades may be caused to revolve, `and as the soap is preferably fed by gravity, the action of the apparatus will be uniform until the soap is practically entirely worn away, or, if preferred, upon the lowest cake of soap becoming nearly ground away, it may be detached from the weight E, and a new series of cakes of soap inserted between the partially used cake and the said weight, thus avoiding any waste of soap whatsoever. By arranging the serrations or cutting blades so as to be of different sizes, the face of the soap becomes evenly ground off without leaving any very marked ridges or grooves in the same.

It will be observed that the blades G, G2,

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and G20, G21, have a serrated cutting edge which extends from the body slightly upwardly and is then curved forwardly relative to the vertical casing of the soap shav ing machine, the serrations each having ordinarily one cutting edge, as g25, Fig. 10, approximately circumferentially disposed, or lying practically parallel to the circumference of the casing of the machine, the other edge, as 923, extending approximately in a radial plane, or in one parallel therewith.

In respect to the blades named above, it will be seen that the actual cutting lines of the edges of the teeth are those of the individual serrations, and that as some of these lines are non-radial, they give a shear cut. One series of edged teeth, as G or G21 are preferably staggered in relation to the cor responding series, as G2 or G20, so that their circles of rotation will not coincide. We prefer to locate the blades at a distance from the axis of the cutter and to form the teeth so that their pointed ends will all face the same way, in order that, no matter in which direction the cutter is turned, some1 of the teeth will present a cutting edge to the soap.

WV e use the term advancing cutting edge to denote the presentation of one of the edges of each one of the serrations to the surface of the soap to be cut, whether the cutter is moved with relation to the cake of soap, as in Fig. 6, or the cake of soap is moved over a stationary cutter, as in Fig. 2, in either o f which cases, each of the cutter' points acts on the soap with a self burrowing cut. And inasmuch as the practically circumferentially parallel edge of a tooth limits or determines the width of the narrow shaving cut by the approximately radial or radially parallel edge, we denote the said former named edge by the term offset, as by the said construction, each cutting edge cuts its own distinct shaving. i

The blade G20 in Fig. 10 has the teeth forn'xed, as stated, so as to cutrwhenrotated in either direction. When the said blade is rotated clockwise, for example, the width of the shaving will be limited by the width of the radial or radially parallel edges 923 located on the lefty hand side of the cutter. If, however, the cutter is rotated in the opposite direction, 0r anti-clockwise, the width of the shaving will be determined by the width of the radial or radially parallel edges Q25.

The cutter' blades we prefer to use are formed with a suitable supporting member,

as a hub,or a ring with or without the use of a hub, and have, as stated, non-radially disposed blades, as G20 and G21. In Fig. 9, a plurality of blades, G10, G11, G12 extend from a cent-ral supporting member or hub.

In machines of this class it sometimes happens that cakes of soap that have been ren time the abrasive action is cently made are used in the same, which are then in a. somewhat plastic condition. Again, itmay happen that soap is used in the apparatus which has been kept for so long a period as to become dry and hard, or cakes in these different conditions may be used in the same machine. It has been found by us in practical experience that, under these different conditions, a positive, uni'arying and unyielding feed for the rotating soap cakes is not practicable to produce satisfactory results in the even granu lation of the soap, for in case a cutter is used so formed as to freely cut into a plastic cake of soap, it will cut so deeply into a dry and hard cake, fed down with the same unvarying positive feed as before, asv

to break the same. And, on the other hand, if a cutter is used suitable to lightly scrape or abrade a hard cake of soap, it will not satisfactorily granulate a softer or more plastic one if it is fed down with the same unvarying speed as before. In order to overcome this difficulty, we have provided a yieldable feed device that will accommodate itself to the particular circumstances of the case, that is to say, when the resistance of the soap becomes too greatto produce the proper abrasive action of the cutter, the follower will yield somewhat, and will maintain only such pressure upon the cake of soap as will be sufficient to elfect the proper biting into the face of the cake by the cutter.

Manifestly the casing or cylinder may be held in various posit-ions as regards the support thereof, as, for example, it may be placed in a slanting position, if preferred, by means of a supporting arm J, J -adapt-- ed to be attached to a wall or sustaining body J 2, as shown in Figs. 2 and 2, the axes of the upper part of the arm J and the driving shaft C being located at angles to the axis of the casing A. If desired, the soap may be propelled by means of other and equivalent soap feeding means, as a spring, placed on t-he rod between the cross piece or partition A and the upper face of the weight A2 would be at the side of the cylinder or casing A.

The advantage gained by constructing the cakes of soap -with uneven interlocking or intermeshing faces is a material saving of the soap, for the reason that as the body of the lower cake of soap gets worn down to a thin disk it will not break or crumble as it is supported by its upwardly extending part f and the parts surrounding the recess f of the superimposed cake, but will retain its entirety until the engaging or intermeshing portions of the depending projections f of the lower uneven face of the cake above it are presented for abrasion. Then for a period of on both cakes of soap, by which construction an even and, uniform surface is always presented to the serrated face of the cutter, and all liability of breakage and wastage of the soap cakesj such as occurs' when non-interlocking or non-intermeshing cakes of soap are used-is overcome.

This application refers particularly to thc class of structures shown principally in Fig. 2, which embodies the crank shaft C supported in a bearing located above the discharge opening of the casing, and positioned at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the casing A which has an open lower end, inv combination with the cutter G, means consisting of the gears D, D and spindle E to vpositively rotate the body or mass of the material F around the axis of the casing upon the rotation of the crank shaft, the two said parts being rotated at a dilferent rate of speed, the disk E having a plurality of projecting angular points to engage the soap cake to produce the rotatory movement thereof, and means consisting of the massive upper part of the disk E to force the mass or body F in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the casing as it becomes gradually worn away by the abrading or cutting action set up upon the cake of soap on account of the rotatory movement thereof by the cutting teeth G', which have suitable means of support.

As it will be evident to those skilled in the art that. many changes in t-he construction, form, proportion and relative arrangement of parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, we would have it understood that wedo not restrict ourselves to the particular construction and arrangen'ient of parts shown and described.

An advantage in not placing t-he manually actuating means directly above the outlet of the soap dispensing machine is that in case a person is washing his hands, and desires to get more of the granulated soap, the drippings will not fall into the fresh charge of soap, as would be the case were the crank to be located directly above the discharge orifice of the machine.

That we claim as our invention is z l. A soap dispenser comprising a recept-acle, a follower provided with a shank loH cated in the receptacle, a hollow spindle embracing said shank and having a longitudinal slot, a pin carried by the shank for movement in the said slot and a nonrotatable cutter in the receptacle.

2. A soap dispenser comprising a recep tacle, a tubular extension located at the top thereof to form a chamber co-nnminicating with the receptacle and having an opening at its upper part, a slotted tube closed at one end and having the other extremity located adjacent to the top ofthe receptacle, a gravity device to work within the said tube, and a pin carried by the said gravity device for movement in t-he slot of the slotted tube.

'3. In a dispensing machine, a recept-acle, a tubular `extension located at the top thereof to form a chamber communicating with the receptacle and having at the top thereof an opening, a slotted tube within the tubular extension to contain a gravity device, one extremity being located adjacent to the top of the receptacle, and a gravity device to work in the said tube.

4. In a dispensing machine, a receptacle, a tubular extension located at the top thereof, a tube within the tubular extension to contain a gravity device, one end being located adjacent to the top of the receptacle, and a gravity device to work in the said tube.

5. In a dispensing machine, a receptacle to co-ntain a body or mass of material, a supporting means therefor, an opening at the lower end of the casing, an abrading means located adjacent to said opening, a bearing for a shaft located above the said opening, a manually actuated shaft located at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the casing, means intermediate the shaft and the said body to rotate the latter, and self-acting yieldable means connected with the rotating means to continuously force the material downward with a positive impelling movement to cause the material and the abrading means to become continuously engaged with a yielding action to produce a steady and uniform abrading act-ion on materials of different resistances until the same become practically entirely ground away by the use of the manually actuated shaft solely.

6. In a dispensing machine, a receptacle to contain a body or mass o-f material, a supporting means therefor, an opening at the lower end of the casing, an abrading means located adjacent to said opening, a bearing for a shaft located above the said opening, a manually actuated shaft located at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the casing, means intermediate the shaft and the said body to rotate the latter at a rate of speed different from that of said shaft, and self acting yieldable means connected with the rotating means to continuously force the material downward with a positive impelling movement to cause the material and the abrading means to become continuously engaged with a yielding action to produce a steady and uniform yaction on materials of different resistances unt-il the same become practically entirely ground away by the use of the manually actuated shaft solely.

7. 'In a dispensing machine, a receptacle to contain a body or mass of material, a supporting means therefor, the part thereof located adjacent to the side of the casing beiso ing located at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the casing and the plane ot the bot-- tom face of the supporting means and the outer face of the primary supporting body to which it is attached being located in a plane at another angle to the said longitudinal axis to hold the receptacle in an inclined position, an opening at the lower end of the casing, an abrading means located adjacent to said opening, a bearing for a shaft located above the said opening, a manually actuated shaft located at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the casing, means intermediate the shaft and the saidsbody to rotate the latter, and self-acting yieldable means connected with the rotating means to `continuously force the material downward with a positive impelling movement to cause the material and the abrading means to be continuously engaged with a yielding action to produce a steady and uniform abrading action on materials of dierent resistances until the same become practically .entirely ground away by the use of the manually actuated shaft solely.

In testimony of the foregoing specification, we do hereby sign the same in the city of New York, county and State of New York, this 19t-h day of January, 1909.

CHARLES H. J. DILG. JONATHAN O. FOWLER.

llitnesss z Ro. SCHWARZ, M. RISENBERG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, ID. C. 

